Drum roll please

The annual Otago University Students Association Battle of The Bands wraps up tonight with the final at Refuel, on campus.

Each year for more than a decade the hopeful and the hopeless (or rather those just there for the free beer) have gone tone to tone in an effort to win bragging rights.

Last week the first two heats were held, involving about 20 bands in all. Two were chosen by judges for the final.

Among the contestants were new-comers King Rex and Junkies in General, who fought it out with seasoned campaigners like Jae Bedford and Taking the Fall.

However, the first heat was won by rising stars and a band who have to be one of the main contenders to take the competition out, Tono and the Finance Company, who are in the final along with Ashes of Eden.

The second heat saw familiar names The Biff Merchants, The Dfenders, and Small Victories battle it out with Six Sixty, Phaema and Sunset Cinema.

But there could be only two, so The Biff Merchants and Sunset Cinema progressed through to the final.

Finalists from heat three, this week, were Incarnate and Low Speed Bus Chase.

The OUSA Battle of The Bands has not been the only big rock competition in town.

The regional final of the Smokefree Rockquest was held last week, with some big names in the school-age music scene shining bright.

The night was won by TFF, whose music is described by the band's sax and synthesizer player, Mickey Treadwell, as "noise-rock with some jazz and grind-core overtones".

The band's next step in the competition, to win a place at the national final on September 5 in Christchurch at the Christchurch Town Hall, is to complete a 15-minute video.

Bands who have competed in regional finals can also apply to be in the final by entering the NZ Rockshop Second Chance for established bands who feel they missed out due to "things going wrong" on the night.

Bands that have done five or more public gigs and have demo recordings of two or more songs, or have won the Smokefree People's Choice Award, can also submit a video of 15 minutes of music to be considered for selection as national finalists.

This means the six national finalists will be selected from a pool of more than 50 videos made up of first and second placegetters from each of 24 regional finals, plus those from second chance or people's choice.

In September bands will be competing for $10,000 worth of prizes, as well as radio airplay and recording time at York Street Studios in Auckland. - Darryl Baser.